Gin-breast lift



Aug. 7, 1928. 1,680,140

' T. ELLIOTT GIN EREAST LIFT Filed Aug. 24, 1927 y 2 Sheets-Sh'et l I Z1 L z 23 Inventor 7k omas Elliott By W I A llorney Aug. 7, 1928. 1,680,140

' r. ELLIOTT GIN BREAS T LIFT Filed Aug. 24, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invenlor Thom as Elliott A tlorney 151th i I l'aftlireotion to --'the breast indts raised 45 QQB rejast' lifts, as

Patented Aug. 7, 1928.

u. I; My

,'" My invention'relates to cotton gins, more :particiilarly to': means for lifting the breast ofja cotton gin, .and, has for its'object the pmnnnd apparatus of the joharacter des- ,5 ignated,l which shall be simple of designand iasy of manufactura by,meansof which the ginbfeast may befreadily and easily" lifted .byfl-ai operator When desired,.ancl jwhlch 1nc'lude's automatic safety means for retaining .10 the breastfinliftedfpositionas long as re- 'f'urthe bject' of invention is tojpro- ,Vide a gin feast lift with ieoun'ter balance -s wl 'ereili,v oneetlie breast is raised,

unte r' -balaiiceimeans exerts a foreein position, requiring the enertion of a greater if l ii l w r li T is :well known 1n ,the art to, which my -g f., i1iiinti6n relates, it is desirable that a gin breast be lifted whenever the gin is shut down so that the saws shallbeout of engagement.with the cotton whentlie gin is-aga-in started, ,obviating the necessity of starting 2 inider load. In some cases, it is also desir- "able'tooperate only a part of aplurality of E'gins in a plant and leave the others out of 'oper'a tion, in which .case the gin breast. of the gin or ginsout of operation, is raised to i .:lift the ribs. away from the saws and the supplyof cotton to that gin is cut off. Again, it; issOmetimesnecessary that the gin breast belifted while the 'ginis in operation and that the operator insert his hands into 135 ;the breast to remove obstructions, rearrange .thdedtton rolls, whichmust always be presenttlierein, etc. ln such situations, it is ex- ,tremely important that, once the breast is lifted, it remain in its raised position as long 40. as. desired. :Very serious accidents incurring the loss ofjihands and arms, and even the ,lives of theoperators, have occurred where the gin. breast. has fallen .while .being worked ,on by; the operator. 7

v H I heretoforeknown to me, "Il ave been difficult of operation, and cumber- ,s orne. to handle; furthermore, the trips or.

safety: catches by, means of which the breasts ,have been heldin raisedposition were liable ilto out of orderand permit abreast to :drop, leading 'to thefserious consequences .,,abqv.e referred to. ,These and other difiiculties are overcomeby apparatus made in ac- ;cordance with .my' invention. 1 Briefly, my invent on comprises a pivoted operating to maintain the breast in itsii-a-ised po' 1 insane- .PATE T;.GfFFLwE FE -KTHOMAPS. ELLIOTT, on I BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR l'ro woonzrmnnyrnn .GIN

F ACOMPANY, ACORPORATION-OF DELAWARE. a;

GIN-BREAST LIFT.

Application filed Au usta, 1927. Serial 110,215,067:

arm, means for transmitting movement from the arm to the g n breast to raise t, the last mentioned means being adapted ftoirotate about a point on'the operating arm so that mo vement of the operating ,a rm whe'n breast begins to lower., addition, pe

vide counter-balance means when namely vaids in raising the ginbre'ast but whielriflsj'sjp pb e tha n eths e ti w s st th eo'unter-balaneeme'ans;exerts fa holding'efieet 'fion until a greaterforce'isexerted.

Apparatus einbodyin features of invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming ajpart 'of this application, wherein v Fig. 1 isa sideelevation of my il nprovegliz breast lift, showing} the gin breast in its lowered position; I 1 Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l a'ndjsho wing the breast inraised position; and I Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the'breastlift shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawings for abetter unc'lerstanding of my invention, :1 show a fragmentof a gin having a fraineflO and a breast 11. The breast 11 is ,pivotally eonnected to the frame .10 as by hin e 12 disposed at an 'upper corner of the, reast, so that the breast is held in operative position by its own weight. I ,Thegin is provided, as is well'understood, with a plurality of ,saws, indicated by dot anddash lines at 13, and secured vto the shaft let. The saws 13, when the breast in the position shown in ,Fig. ,1,

extend within the breastbetween ribs 16 ;.so

as to separate the lint from thecotton seed. WVhen, for any reason, it is desired .to stop operation of the gin, the breast .11 .is raised to the position shown in Fig. 2 so that the ribs 1 6 are clearof the saws 13. With-the saws rotating, the gin is then ontof operation and the operator may'insert hisihands into the breast to performsueh worlra's is necessary. It will be obvious, .u'ndei: such conditions, that the breast shoi ldremain in its raised position .to avoid possible senious injury tothe operator. I, j In order to accomplish .thebefore mentioned desired result, I provide anoprating arm 17 securedto a tumbler shaft 18, which latter shaft previdesla plvot forthe arm gli.

viewed in Fig. 1, is upwardlyturned with respect tofthejother arm thereof The reason for thisde'sign of the lever will appear moreparticularly hereaften' 3 as seen in Flg. 3, are shes; it, extends a s t ferretthei niia dimayi ar Y' d d' i i bpposite@m1fiOmJt atIv d in Figslj 2, with: a duplieate mechanism C iPl ifiE" 1 oper e 5: fl ing lever egend alfl pring'ee, the naanaa "all being arranged "to r action 'fsiinilarly to the Qat r am; It; h .lev rl9s. a d th spring 241 "The" operating-t 17 ha attached thereto 31 to, provide annual means' for raising the gin breast;

W b seen .nider 'idnl. of Figs. 1 and 2 that as-whenever 31' 'ispulled forward the pivot 21 of. the floating lever 19 describes an are haying. tli'e shaftl8 ,asfits center. It will "also be seen" that the pivot 22 of. the. end of thefloating lever 19gdescribes an arc havi ng"the"fpivot1121' as its center. This causes/a rotary'inovement'of the floa'tinglever' l9 about the moving pivot 21 as a center. As the lever 31 is pillled forward. and this' forward inovementis transmitted to the gin breast, the f rotary motion of the floating levers 19 and 28 causes the breast to first be raised and then start to lower. This oc'clirs'when' its pivot 2l'swings forwardly of a plane defined by'th axes of the'pivots 181a1id22respectively, The arms of the levers 19 and 28'aresoidisposed i with respect to'the'other arms thatwhen, in

the forward mov'em'entof the lever 31, the breast starts to lower, the arms' '23 engage the shaft 18,"andarrest further movement.

..This position'i s shown in Fig. '2. It will seen from a eon'siderationbfi Fig'. v2 that in its raised position, the "gin breast ll is exerting a force on the floating levers'19 andf2 8 tendingtofurther rotate them clock- "wise, which movement is effectnally prevented by the arm 23. "Thisfeatureis very ?1n1portant'in"th'at provides ,me'ansf for automatically holding the g in in raised positio Qand also nee to: start. to low'er'it.

" The springs 24:

. t s t sea e =29 aafiyd peaa that each exerts a force at all times 'onthe opera- H ting arms 17 and27 which tends to bias them in ja forwar'd'direction; Iii thel'position' of ithebre'as't shown i n Fi gf 1,thje springs "24 and 29 are fully elongated and exert a force which inaterially aids the operator in lifting the gin breast. In the position of the gin breast shown in Fig. 2, the springs 24: and :29 are: only partially elongatedandare urgaring-ithe arin 23of the floating levers in a direction which would cause each floating -'-le'ver'- to rotate about its pivot 21 and effect ,a lowering ofthe gin breast. Inasmuch as this latter movement is prevented by the shaft 18, it will beseen that the gin breast is effectually held in itsraised position and that itwould require the exertion of force sufiicient to overcome the effect of the weight v of the gin breast and the tension of the springs 24: and29 to lower it., From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have devised'an improved gin breast lift which ay, be readily operated to raise the breast and which, once the breast is raised, effectually holds it in its raised position so that an operator may safely work about the gin without dangerto life orlimb. v

3 While I have shown my invention but th form, it willbejobviou'sto thofse' 'skillfd in the art" that itis' 'notf so" limited, but is susceptible of variouschan'ges and modifications, without 'departing 'from the spirit thereof, andI desire, therefore, that" only such limitationsshall be placed thereupon as. are imposed by the'prior'artor as are specifically set forth'in'the appended claims.

1. The combination with a gin framejhaving a breast pivoted thereto and held in opcrating position by gravity, of an'operating arm, a floating lever carried by the operating arm and pivoted to the gin breast, and counter-balance means coacting with the operating arm to exert a lifting force on the gin breast while raising it, said floating lever and said counter-balance means being so arranged that the gin breast is held in raised position by gravity and the exertion of force is required to lower the breast.

2. In a ginhaving a pivoted breast held in operating position by gravity, a tumbler shaft, an operating arm secured to thetumbler shaft, a floating lever fulcrumed crosswise of the operating arm, a pivotal connec- -tion between one arm ofithe floating lever and the gin breast, whereby when the op- ;erating armis'pulled forward the floating "lever is rotated about its fulcrum and first raises and then begins to lower the gin breast, a spring associated with the floating" lever'to urge the operating arm in aforwa'rd direction, the other arm of said float- "ingflever bein adapted tofengage the tumbler shaft'and arrest movement ofthe operating arm and the floating lever when the tion by gravity, a tumbler shaft extending ioe acroes the front of the gin, an operating arm weight of the gin breast, manual means for L securedto each end of he sh ft, afloating moving the operating arms, and means for lever pivoted cross-Wise ofeach operating automatically arresting movementof the oparm and havi-ngone end pivotally connected erating arm and holding it when the breast.

to the ginbrea'stfor transmitting movement is in its raised position.

ofthe arm to *the breast and vice versa,' a In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

spring connected to the other end of each n v V floating lever for counter-balancing the i V V THOMA SYELLIOTT, 

